The Joy of Finding the Unusual

There is a particular kind of happiness that comes from finding something you did not know you were looking for. A jar with a label written in pencil. A brass candlestick that is slightly too tall. A framed beetle that somehow looks exactly right above the fireplace.

We built this shop around that feeling. Not the joy of buying, but the joy of discovering. There is a difference, and once you notice it, shopping online for the same five things starts to feel a bit flat.

How to get better at spotting the unusual

Finding odd and wonderful things is mostly a habit, and it can be practised.

Slow down. Most of us scan a shop for what we expect to see. The good stuff lives in the gaps: under tables, behind taller objects, on the bottom shelf nobody bends down for.

Follow your own interests. Forget anyone else’s idea of good taste. A vintage cigarette tin is junk to one person and the missing piece of a kitchen display to another. Both are right.

Pick things up. Weight and texture tell you things a photo cannot. A piece you would walk past on a screen can change your mind the moment it is in your hand.

Ask who made it. Almost every strange object has a better story than you would guess, and a good story is often what turns something from odd into treasured.

Go back. Places with lots of independent sellers change all the time. A shelf that did nothing for you in March may have your new favourite thing on it by May.

Some of the curious things on our shelves

If you want to practise, here are a few corners of the shop worth a slow look:

• Gaia Morte Artworks makes entomology frames, display domes and bone displays with the feel of an old natural history museum.
• Dead Dolls Society reworks rescued dolls, and also frames metal detecting finds and preserves dandelion seeds.
• Bluebell Patch Creations has beaded animals, decorative spiders, suncatchers and little wire trees.
• CrypticxCove draws cryptids and obscure folklore, and makes jewellery using chainmaille techniques from medieval armour.

Why it is worth the effort

Things you stumble on tend to stay with you. You remember the day you found them, and when someone asks where you got that, you have an answer better than a website address. That is a small thing, but homes and wardrobes full of small things like that are much nicer to live with.

The world is more interesting than it lets on. Sometimes you just have to lean in a little closer. Browse our stockists to see who is in the shop at the moment, get to know them in Meet the Makers, or come and have a wander at 15 West Street.